There are teams in Europe that will almost never make it to any tournament…all they do is make the numbers and thus increase the number of games competitive countries have to play.
In Asia and Africa, they already have different stages of qualification, although it’s a different setup to what I think Europe needs.
My take is the countries with the lowest FIFA ratings should play a two-legged knockout fixture (or a one-off could be a better idea) and then proceed to the main qualifying round.
What’s your take on that?
If the bottom two teams are such a walkover then the bigger nations can just send reserve sides to play. I’d expect training is more competitive than the matches against Malta and Gibraltar anyway so the players aren’t exerting themselves massively.
There were 8 competitive games for England in 2023, it’s nothing compared to club schedules.
no, but the players are the same
number of games need to be reduced